BARMM exec wants 2025 parliament polls reset

Parliament member Michael Midtimbang —Michael Midtimbang/Facebook

COTABATO CITY, BARMM, Philippines — Following the Supreme Court ruling that excluded Sulu from the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM), a lawmaker filed before the Bangsamoro Transition Authority (BTA) parliament a resolution to ask Congress to postpone the first parliamentary elections in the region next year.

Parliament member Michael Midtimbang on Friday filed Resolution No. 631, urging the Senate and House of Representatives to reschedule the elections in BARMM that are slated to be held together with the national and local elections in May 2025.

READ: SC: Sulu not part of BARMM

He also filed Resolution No. 632 calling on the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to extend the period for the filing of certificates of candidacy (COC) for the regional polls.

Comelec has earlier reset the filing of COCs for BARMM parliament seats to Nov. 4 to Nov. 9, instead of from Oct. 1 to Oct. 8, in the wake of the Supreme Court ruling excluding Sulu from the autonomous region.

The poll body also moved the deadline for filing the list of nominees and manifestations of intent to participate in regional parliamentary political parties from Oct. 8 to Nov. 9.

Midtimbang, however, said it would be best to postpone the first elections in the region to “provide ample time for BTA to amend the Bangsamoro Autonomy Act (BAA) No. 58, the regional law that governed the creation of parliamentary districts.”

Equitable representation

He said there was a need to amend BAA 58 provisions on parliamentary districts so that the seven district seats it allotted for Sulu could be distributed to the remaining territories within BARMM.

“Such amendments are vital for ensuring equitable representation and effectively addressing the unique needs of each district,” Midtimbang said in a statement on Monday.

As to the proposed Resolution No. 632, Midtimbang said there has to be a longer period for the filing of COCs to ensure that the elections were to be conducted with thorough consideration for the amended parliamentary districts.

“The ramifications of these resolutions go beyond mere procedural adjustments; they touch upon the essence of justice and democracy in our region,” he said.

Uphold BOL

He added: “By ensuring that elections are rescheduled and that candidates are given the time needed to prepare, we reinforce public trust in our political system. This trust is fundamental in a region where history has often dictated divisions rather than unity.”

Midtimbang said his resolutions, which would be deliberated in a regular BTA session here on Tuesday, would ensure that the foundational structures of the Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL), the implementing law of the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro, be followed and upheld; that is, to elect 80 members of the parliament composed of 40 party list representatives, 32 district representatives and eight sectoral representatives in the region.

BARMM, an expanded autonomous region created following the ratification of BOL through plebiscites in 2019, was the product of the 2014 peace deal signed between the government and former combatants of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).

Currently run by an MILF-dominated transition body, the region was supposed to hold its first elections in 2022 but Congress had approved the extension of its transition period for another three years to 2025.